JENN PALUMBO'S BIO
Jenn Palumbo recently opened for Gilbert Gottfried and was named one of the “10 Standout Stand-ups Worth Watching" by BACKSTAGE. She has performed in the “Hottest Italian-American Female Comic’s Show” as part of the New York Comedy Festival, the Las Vegas Comedy Festival at the Tropicana and she served as the host for both the On Stage Italian Artists Showcase at The Cutting Room and “Covers for the Cure” at Joe’s Pub to raise money for the American Cancer Society. She's also a regular at Carolines on Broadway, Gotham Comedy Club, Comedy Cellar and the unique & ever entertaining Joe Franklin's Comedy Club.
In addition to her stand-up, Jenn's short comical essays have been featured in such places as GirlComic.com and Skirt! Magazine. She’s also written several children’s plays such as ‘The Runaway Birthday’ which was featured in the Gallery Player's Blackbox Series and ‘How Peanut Butter Met Jelly’ which toured several cultural institutions around Brooklyn.
Jenn is currently writes and produces sketch comedy with her fiance', Mike Siscoe, and she continues to write and perform her own unique brand of stand-up comedy. Check out the 'Schedule/Media' page to see where Jenn's performing next!!!
"SPOTLIGHT ON COMEDY BEST BETS - 10 STANDOUT STANDUPS WORTH WATCHING" By Amelia David in the May 26th, 2005 issue of BACKSTAGE: "Jenn Palumbo: Brooklyn-Born Comedy Savvy - This Brooklyn-based comic has the ability to see the ironies in life and make sassy, savvy observations about friends, family, and dating in New York. We especially crack up every time we hear her material about friends who have trouble with the concept of leaving Manhattan to visit her in the faraway land of Brooklyn. ("Will I have to set my clock differently there? Will I need a passport and shots?") Palumbo's wisecracking delivery and attitude are especially present when she is describing herself as "a skeptical Catholic." ("I believe Jesus walked on water. I just also believe it had to have been winter at the time.")
As well as being a sharp, bright writer with a very New York state of mind, she's also an accomplished author of children's plays that are frequently performed around the five boroughs. She's been a guest on "Mancow Morning Madhouse" on WKQX-FM in Chicago and is a board member of Brooklyn Family Theatre, and her comedy essays have been featured online at www.girlcomic.com. Because she has a resume full of acting credits in addition to her strong stage presence and audience appeal as a standup, we could easily see her doing well as a sidekick character on a network or cable TV series or making a serious appearance on the "Law & Order" franchise, "Rescue Me," or "The Sopranos" (she is,after all, of Italian background)."
THE RUNAWAY BIRTHDAY"- reviewed by Alex Roe in the June 23rd, 2005 issue of nytheatre.com: "The Runaway Birthday, a “Play for Families and Children” by Jennifer Palumbo, offers the usual young audience fare: heroes, villains, and knaves; plot dilemmas with edifying resolutions; and broad acting under all. But the play is more sophisticated than your run-of-the-mill kids' show. An ironical self-consciousness colors its ingenuous messages, providing both a playful story for the young as well as a wry amusement for their chaperones....
What distinguishes The Runaway Birthday is in the telling. Palumbo’s dialogue is a funny pastiche of fairytale speech and contemporary vernacular. Her off-kilter characters and her playful plot are engaging and even surprising. Finally, her weaving together of the tale with its own telling is more than amusing, it helps the themes resonate."
"COMIC RELIEF FOR THE COST-CONSCIOUS CROWD" By Tripp Whetsell in the June 15th 2002 issue of the NEW YORK POST: "...Stand-Up New York also boasts some great shows. Among the big names that started here are Billy Crystal, Rosie O'Donnell and Denis Leary, but the club also has an impressive roster of newcomers like Jennifer Palumbo..."
"COMICS BEAUTIFUL ZINGING" By Tripp Whetsell in the April 14th, 2002 issue of the NEW YORK POST: "Here's a roundup of the best one-liners from New York stand-ups: 'I live in Brooklyn and I find I'm having a hard time getting people from Manhattan to come to my house. It's one bridge but they act like they need an updated passport and a battery of vaccinations. I'll invite them out and they'll say, 'Brooklyn? What is this land you speak of? Is it safe to drink the water? Well, if's 4pm our time, what time is it there?' - Jennifer Palumbo (Gotham Comedy Club, The Comedy Cellar)".
"NOT IN KANSAS" By Paulanne Simmons in the October 27, 2003 Issue of GO BROOKLYN: "All our favorite characters are still here... the good witch (played by)...the great comic Palumbo."
"WORKING FOR 'PEANUTS" By Paulanne Simmons in the February 21, 2004 Issue of GO BROOKLYN: "It was... a pleasure to see Palumbo return to BFT's stage."
"CHOOSING THE RIGHT TRAINING FOR YOU" By Amelia David in the April 21st, 2005 Issue of BACKSTAGE: "Actor, writer, and standup comic Jennifer Palumbo... prefers coaches and suggests taking classes only "till you find a coach you bond with." She wryly observes about coaching, "You'll get more bang for your buck." Palumbo finds that general classes "breed learning only general knowledge, with little attention. Anytime you can build a one-on-one relationship with coaching, you'll get the personalized attention you don't get in some of New York's overcrowded classes." While she believes that "nothing can really prepare you for job interviews," if you feel daunted by certain parts of the process-for example, cold readings-"taking a class lets you know you've prepared as much as you can." Like many B.A. theatre grads, Palumbo felt that college gave her no on-camera acting training. But while working on student films can be a valuable source of on-set and on-camera experience at no cost, you'll still need to pass an on-camera audition to get the job. As a comic, Palumbo advises about comedy classes, "They let you try out material," but as for education, "they can't teach you to be a comic. You have to have that already."
